Two schools in Manhattan Beach were placed on precautionary lockdown for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon as police searched for a burglary suspect, said Manhattan Beach Police Department’s Public Information Officer Stephanie Martin.
Meadows Avenue Elementary and Manhattan Beach Preschool were advised by MBPD to close their campus gates to prevent the suspect from entering, Martin said.
At about 12:20 p.m., MBPD received a call about a residential burglary near 17th Street and Meadows Avenue. The homeowners told police that they arrived home to find it burglarized, with the two suspects in their backyard. When they confronted the two, both fled into the neighborhood, Martin said.
When police arrived on the scene, they detained one of the suspects, a 16-year-old male. Police recovered $5,000 worth of stolen jewelry from him. He was booked on charges of burglary, Martin said.
The other suspect was last seen running northbound on 18th Street. MBPD established a perimeter in search of the suspect with assistance from El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Hawthorne and Gardena police, Martin said.
After an exhaustive search of the neighborhood, police reopened the perimeter at about 3:15 p.m. The suspect is still at large.
He is described as a Hispanic male, 16 to 20 years old, approximately 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6 with a thin build. He was last seen wearing a black or gray sweatshirt and shorts.
